By Rick Anderson
Owner, Best North Collins Movers

No matter how great your customer service, all moving companies face natural skepticism from consumers.

A few bad apples in every area make it a challenge for the rest of us movers to build trust with the people we serve. One major issue is the governance of moving companies. Many states do not require licensing, which give movers license to do what they want. Years ago, it wasn’t uncommon for movers to take off with a truckload of possessions to never return.

All moving companies and movers aren’t required to be insured either. Buyer beware.

We’ve heard all the horror stories you can imagine. Just look at reviews of moving companies on Google, Yelp, or Angie’s List.

A sampling:

• Mover showed up two hours late or didn’t show up at all.
• Mover charged me $200 more than what he estimated.
• Mover broke my antique china.
• Mover left my home looking like the aftermath of a wild tailgate party.
• Mover was rude and pushy.

Rare is it do you see a customer praising a mover.

To combat this skepticism, we pour on the customer service from our first contact.

A few keys that have helped us build a powerful reputation in our community:

Responsiveness. Moving is often a stressful and worrisome time for people. They want to know that their most important possessions are safe with you. They want to know when the mover will show up, when he will finish, and how much it will cost (exactly). Build trust up front with friendly and customer service driven people answering your phone.

Accurate estimates. To provide exact estimates, we travel to the customer’s home or apartment to collect a list of all the items they are moving. When we do this, 9 times out of 10, the customer chooses us to help them with their move.

Flexibility. Though we offer full-service moving options, we’re also ready to assist when our customers need us most – with packing, loading, delivery, etc. We understand that our customers might not have a huge budget to use on moving. We work with them on a plan that works for them financially.

Outstanding service. We back up our responsiveness, accurate estimates, and flexibility by delivery to our customers the best moving service in our area. We train our movers and customer service people to be friendly, efficient, careful and professional.

Follow these four keys — no matter what you’re business — and you’ll be sure to build an impeccable reputation in your community.